It is difficult to say Queen Latifah's \Beauty Shop"" is worth the time it takes to unfold, so it would be very easy to write it off as just another mindless comedy, similar to ""Bringing Down the House"" or ""Barbershop,""- two movies from the same producers of ""Beauty Shop.""
However, while a few of its plot elements were so overdone they should be banned from Hollywood forever, ""Beauty Shop"" has an unsuspectedly charged cast of actors and is not a typical comedy. This movie contains a genuine air amid all the hairspray and attitude. The salon scenes are quite accurate, and many of the relationships are written with a certain comforting subtlety that one would probably not expect based on the movie's trailer.
Queen Latifah plays Gina Norris, a talented beautician who just started work at a luxurious salon in Atlanta, Georgia. Her flamboyant, narcissistic boss Jorge criticisms cause Gina to quit his shop.
Gina takes out a small loan and opens up her own shop. Lynn, played by Alicia Silverstone, comes along with Gina to the new salon. Though Silverstone's character is incessantly annoying, she's also a little charming. She gains the sympathy of the audience during wide-eyed moments of vulnerability that sometimes make Lynn eerily reminiscent of Silverstone's ""Clueless"" character.
Lynn is vital to the story, however, because as the only ""white girl"" working at Gina's salon, she strives to and finally achieves universal acceptance from her co-workers.
Andie MacDowell also makes a memorable appearance as a wealthy and flustered customer of Gina's who also plays a comical role in this movie's message of acceptance. MacDowell's character, alongside Sheryl Underwood's humorous portrayal of fried-food peddling Catfish Rita, are the two most uniquely amusing performances in ""Beauty Shop."" Well, aside from Kevin Bacon's an animal print-wearing Austrian hairdresser named Jorge-a role which surprisingly suits him.
Gina's young daughter, Vanessa, is played by the witty and adorable Paige Hurd, a young actress comparable to ""Uptown Girls"" star Dakota Fanning. Hurd adds a unique emotional depth to the story.
""Beauty Shop"" is not only about bling or a place where women go to gossip and get their hair styled, but about a woman's struggle to make something of herself while raising a child without a father.
Sure, ""Beauty Shop"" employs many clich??s, but it is unusually rife with unique, realistic humor. While it moves a bit slowly, ""Beauty Shop"" conveys a strong message. This is a movie which, more than anything, revolves around the ideas of race and acceptance, and like all great success stories, ""Beauty Shop"" reminds its audience that good friends and happiness are always more important in life than money or power.
